Luminous
by rainbow-dango
Summary: Set during the summer between 2x24 and 3x01. Beckett works a case with the FBI, which includes an old flame of hers from college - Agent Savannah Grant - who might still own a piece of her heart. Co-fic with the wonderfully awesome closingdoors.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Ellie and Ellie working together? Writing a thing together? Uh-oh. (Just kidding. Kind of.) Welcome to the Ellie__²__ co-fic, 'Luminous.' I hope you enjoy!_

_P.S.: My super-awesome British counterpart – closingdoors – will be writing the chapters that from Kate's POV, which are the odd chapters. I'll be writing the even chapters, and from our OC Agent Savannah Grant's._

_Anyways, on with the fic! _

_Disclaimer: Guess. Castle, Richard Castle, Kate Beckett – all not mine. As always._

* * *

**Luminous**

**Chapter One:**

New York is heavy this time in the summer, heat sticking to the back of her neck beneath her long hair no matter how many times she swipes at the patch. She replaces her morning coffee with cooling bottles of water, grateful for the relief she feels spreading from her lungs and unfurling through her veins. She's grateful that she doesn't have to face the damn coffee machine anymore either, doesn't have to cradle the porcelain mug between her hands with a bitter taste in her mouth that he makes it better than her.

But that's – no. Don't think about it, Beckett.

Castle's gone. It's been three weeks. She's _fine_. Really.

Sure, it stings: the rejection, the betrayal, the words _see you in the fall _tumbling around in her head over and over again late at night. Will she ever see him in the fall again? She doesn't know – doesn't know if she wants to, either.

Beckett sighs, grabbing the litre bottle from the fridge and swigging generously. Sweat clings to her body from her morning run and makes her uncomfortable, and she's halfway to her shower when her cell rings, toeing off her pants when she answers.

"Beckett."

"Hey," Esposito says, "we got a fresh one, Beckett."

Of course there's a fresh one. There's always a fresh one. Jeez, she's on call today, and the murderers can't even wait until – she glances at the clock – God, it's only 7:30am. Her body may be ready to burn calories she probably shouldn't lose, but her mind certainly isn't ready yet.

She sighs, rubbing her temples. "What's the address?"

* * *

The crime scene is already littered with the press, along with several jet black SUVs and at that she feels her heart sink. Seriously? This early and the case is bad enough for the feds to try and get involved? Well, jurisdiction on this one is gonna be _fun_.

Esposito and Ryan call her over as she passes beneath the yellow tape, expertly weaving through the herd of flashing cameras and dizzying questions in order to get there. They stand looking resentful, scowling over at the crowds of the feds, the way they already have their team overrunning CSU on the scene. Kate can't even tell where the body is.

"Hey," she says, "what's got the feds sniffing around our body?"

"Third they've found in four days. Famous or somethin', I don't know," Esposito grumbles petulantly, like a child.

Ryan steps closer, shrugging. "It's a messy one. All three victims have been, uh… decapitated."

"Decapitated?" She repeats, eyes wide.

"Not well, either. It's… well, you might wanna prepare yourself," Ryan tells her, before leading her over to the body at the other end of the alley.

The familiar stench hits Beckett before she sees the body and she holds her breath as she always does, preparing herself. But of course, she can't, because before her lays, well… before her is the body of what may have once belonged to a young woman, if the clothes she's wearing and her slim figure give any indication. Ryan's right, too. It is messy. The stump of her neck is an assortment of cartilage and torn skin, and Beckett can't stand to look at it, turns away and focuses on the bruising against her pale wrists, her tattered and bloody clothes.

"Feds have taken the head," Lanie says, looking up from the body when she spots Beckett, "think you can get it back for me?"

"I make no promises," Kate says, glancing warily at the ominous SUVs.

Lanie tuts, stands. "Body temperature suggests that she died about 2am this morning."

"I suppose I don't need to ask for a COD," Kate mutters, stomach rolling, watching Ryan as he looks away with a face a little too pale compared to normal.

"Poor girl," Lanie says, then gestures to the messy neck, "at first guess, your killer, obviously, used something sharp, something fine. They knew what they were doing. I can try and get you a narrower description on weapon back at the lab."

Beckett sighs, glancing down at the body once again. Repulsed. Who breeds these monsters – these creatures that lurk in the night and harm others in such a violent, careless way? How do they walk away, clean their hands with water, and think that cleanses them completely?

"Yo Beckett," Esposito calls, and she turns away, tossing a thank you over her shoulder to Lanie.

"What have you got, Espo?"

"Agent in charge wants to talk to you. Apparently they're willing to, uh, co-ordinate with us."

Beckett rolls her eyes and Esposito shrugs at her look. After waving Ryan over, they head towards the herd of the FBI. Kate's already listing reasons why they should be kept on the case in her head when they're directed over to the lead agent, preparing themselves for the inevitable argument with the FBI, who will without a doubt want to kick the NYPD from the case.

And then –

"_Savvy_?"

"Kate?"

Kate stops, surprise encompassing her body as she catches sight of the Agent in charge. Golden hair swaying softly as she turns from another Agent, surprise flaring in her own green eyes - soft. Always so soft in the way they gazed at her, Beckett remembers. And the sound of her name rising from her – it's surprising the way Kate feels her heart stutter slightly in her chest, cheeks flushing pink despite all of the time that has passed, how Savannah had just become a faint memory in the back of her mind.

She can feel Esposito and Ryan's eyes on them, tries to gather her thoughts quickly in the presence of the two men, but Savannah seems as flummoxed as she feels. But – right – the case.

"You're the Agent in charge?"

Savannah nods slowly, eyes studying her softly for a moment before she reverts to professional. She pulls her ID from her pocket, holds it up for the men to see. Kate keeps her eyes on Savannah's face, studies how time has changed her, matured the soft edges of youth that had once been there.

"Agent Savannah Grant," she tells the two men, eyes always drawn back to Kate.

Esposito huffs beside Kate. "You gonna kick us off the case, Agent?"

Savannah smirks, tucking her ID back into her suit pocket. "No, detective, I'm willing to work with you. So long as you're willing to work with us."

"We're happy to help in any way we can," Beckett says, shoving her shaking hands in her pant pockets.

"I hear you've worked with the FBI before. With Jordan Shaw?"

"That's right," Beckett confirms, still completely thrown off by Savannah's presence. "A few months ago. We worked with her team on the Scott Dunn case."

Savannah nods, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Beckett remembers – that's where she picked up that mannerism, that way of hiding nerves. It floods her with memories she'd long since forgotten. And it's too much, so she looks away, back over at Esposito who's eyeing them warily.

"Well, I look forward to working with you, detective," Savannah says, catching Beckett's eye again. "My team has already begun setting up at your precinct."

Beckett nods, ordering Ryan to help officers with the canvas before walking away with Esposito, towards her cruiser.

"Savvy, huh?" Esposito says, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

She's in the break room when Savannah first corners her. Kate's not hiding, exactly. She's still waiting for Lanie to get back to her with the Victim's ID from DNA, as well as waiting for Ryan to get back to her with the canvas, and she's not been given any answers as to what the FBI have done with the victim's decapitated head. So she's just taking a break. While studiously avoiding Savannah.

"Hey."

She looks up from making coffee to see Savannah leaning against the doorjamb, watching her softly.

Why does it ache so much? Why does she want so badly to reach out and untuck that strand of hair from behind her ear, run her fingers through it? The dull smart from rejection has been soothed with the memory of Savannah. Soft, beautiful Savannah. Always smiling and teasing and right. Funny how she longs for the woman now after all these years, after how she barely thought of her from time to time.

"Hi," she manages to croak out. "You want one?"

Savannah wrinkles her nose, and it's cute – so cute. Kate looks away, back down at the brown liquid that she'd been hiding from for three weeks now. It doesn't hurt as much now. Won't feel as bitter to her tastebuds.

"Too many college finals have put me off the stuff. Good to see you have some of your old habits, though. Then again, I didn't really expect you to drop your caffeine addiction at all," Savannah teases, moving closer to rest against the counter with Beckett.

So close – so –

Kate huffs, wrapping her hands around the porcelain. "I never tried to give up."

Savannah grins. "Good. You're cranky when you haven't had your coffee."

Beckett ducks her head, hides behind her newly grown out hair. This is too much. She doesn't know what to make of the jumbled feelings inside her heart.

"Listen, Savvy – "

"Kate," Savannah cuts across her, hand hesitantly hovering above her arm before deciding to retract it at Beckett's look, crossing her arms across her torso. "I've heard nothing but praises from Shaw. I know you're professional. But you can tell me if this is too hard, nobody would blame you – "

"No," Kate says, "It's fine. I'm just… surprised, that's all."

Savannah laughs, green eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, I know how you feel."

Kate cradles the coffee to her chest, feels its warmth spreading through her and despite the summer heat it feels right somehow. Comforting.

"So, on with the case?"

Savannah grins, and it's beautiful. So beautiful.

"On with the case."

* * *

_A/N: Thoughts?_

_-Ellie_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Sorry this is kind of late. My phone decided to have some sort of technological seizure and deleted the next few chapters of the Fringe fic I'm working on that I'd saved on it. Because teachers totally appreciate when you're writing fanfics on your phone in class, right? Rewriting that before all the words escaped my head was prioritized above finishing up this chapter, unfortunately, but it's here now! :)_

_Disclaimer: Really?_

* * *

They agreed to be professional. Two hours before, in the precinct's break room, they promised - each other, themselves, their victim - to keep their past in the past. It's not like their history is littered with betrayal and heartbreak and resentment, because that's not the case, not in the least. They broke up on amiable terms. Respectful terms. Savannah wanted more out of their relationship, which Kate couldn't give her, not then. Tears were shed, and maybe Savvy did get a little angry, but mostly she was upset. Sad. As most people are when experiencing loss.

She mourned quite deeply. She slept with strangers, both men and women, and had other girlfriends. Serious girlfriends; relationships that _did _end with lies and savage pain and shouting. A bang rather than a whimper.

Both Savvy and Kate agree: no distractions.

But Kate Beckett is _distracting. _Every beautiful bit of her; her eyes, an autumnal greenish brown color, her long fingers, her collarbones peeking out from the neckline of her short-sleeved shirt. A million and one old memories resurface, bubble up to the forefront of her mind, and she can hardly resist the urge that rises up beneath her ribs. It's like her heart's inflating with the intensity of it, which is annoying, and inconvenient, and - oh, man, she's a goner. How the hell is she gonna survive this?

The detective, on the other hand, seems unperturbed. Her mind is trained solely on the case, on the information she scrawls onto the twelfth's whiteboard, the photographs she pins to it. She muses, almost idly, about the victim and the killer. Why her? Why decapitation?

"Our murderer might have committed smaller crimes in the past. You know, the weird teenager that probably killed the neighbor's cat," she might think aloud, and Savvy will just nod absently in response.

When their victim is identified as twenty-five-year-old Daisy Elizabeth Anderson from downtown Manhattan, Kate and Agent Taylor - a stocky guy with a voice like gravel, Savannah's loyal partner of four years - disappear to pick up Hunter Anderson, Daisy's husband and next-of-kin.

Even _then_, the feelings don't fade, like an itch that stubbornly refuses to be soothed.

"Get it together," Savvy mutters to herself. She feels twenty again; she can't stop staring at her beautiful and mysterious classmate throughout Professor Jacobson's terribly boring lectures. She never paid attention, spent most of the class doodling Katherine Beckett in the margins of her notebook.

(One particularly frigid Tuesday morning, Kate - out of boredom - leaned over to see what Savannah was drawing and spotted a cartoon of herself.

"Is that me?" She said softly, underneath the drone of their professor.

"Yeah, yeah, it is," Savvy mumbled, embarrassed, cheeks flushing bright red.

Kate's normally solemnly impassive expression blossomed into a beautiful smile. "It's adorable. Your name's Savannah, right?"

"Call me Savvy."

"Alright, Savvy. What else do you draw, besides your classmates?")

_But you're not_,she reminds herself, somewhat harshly. She's not a dumb, lovesick kid. She's an adult, thirty-two years old, an FBI agent. She's better than this, better than (metaphorically) drooling over an ex-girlfriend. She's moved on. She has.

She takes a deep breath, shaking herself mentally, and forces herself to focus on the whiteboard. _Why Daisy Elizabeth Anderson? Why decapitate her? What's the connection between her and the other victims? Is there a connection, or is the killer picking people at random?_

The questions fill up her mind, pushing Kate to the background. She focuses, determined, on the case in front of her. The bits of information - Daisy was unemployed, but her husband's well-paying job kept them afloat; on the night of her death, she planned to have a movie night at a friend's house, but never arrived - and the gruesome photographs, both from the crime scene and the morgue, consume her and she tries her damnedest to make sense of them. To somehow find some well-hidden answers.

(She knows that she can't maintain this forever, though, especially once the detective returns. A piece of her heart - small, forcibly forgotten when the metaphorical section of the organ was sealed off like a wound closing - still cares for Kate. Maybe it's love, maybe it was, maybe it's not and never has been, but it's something. Something kind of beautiful.)

'Focused Savannah' lasts for about fifteen minutes, until Kate walks up to her, saying, "Agent Taylor's with Mr. Anderson in the lounge."

Savannah, still half in 'the zone,' turns to her face and blinks as if coming out of a trance.

"Earth to Savvy," Kate says, her tone light, the faintest trace of a smile on her face. "You in there?"

For a brief second, Savvy's even more taken aback. That is - was; _past tense, past tense, Agent Grant - _their 'thing.' Sometimes, when Savvy was studying, Kate'd pull the textbook or notes away and sidle into her girlfriend's lap. She would grin playfully as she said, "Earth to Savvy. You in there, babe?"

Thankfully, Savvy regains herself quickly, and grins at the other woman. "Old habits die hard, huh?"

She expects a witty response or Kate's trademark eye roll, but instead the dark-haired woman shrugs, offering a small (and unfairly alluring) smile. She expertly switches the subject in a flash, turning to the 'murder board,' as the twelfth's homicide detectives call it.

"Any ideas?"

_Right. Eyes on the prize, Sav._

* * *

It's not that simple.

Of course, it's not that simple.

Hours and hours and hours pass and Savvy's productivity appears only in short bursts. Mostly, she just watches Detective Beckett at work, watches her brain work behind her eyes, and as nighttime overtakes the city, her watching becomes more unabashed. She's tired. Everyone's tired. This case has them all running ragged.

"I've missed this," Savvy says sleepily. "Solving things with you."

Kate allows herself a short laugh. "Murders are a bit different than equations, don't you think?"

"Nah, not really. Add stuff together, figure out what 'x' means, and _voila_, the entire thing fits together perfectly like a puzzle of death and destruction."

"Is the death and destruction part referring to our case or equations?"

"Math in general," Savvy grumbles.

The women are drunk off exhaustion, and can't help the smiles that split their faces like equators. Kate's at her desk, Savvy sitting in the chair she keeps nearby it from some reason. She doesn't ask her about it, though - doesn't want to give up having somewhere to sit.

All the sudden, Kate turns her head to look at the FBI agent, and hesitates almost imperceptibly before saying, "You know what you need?"

"Enlighten me, O wise Detective Beckett," Savvy replies cheekily.

"Hush," Kate says. "You need a break. We both do. Let's call it a night and go get a drink."

"Together? How scandalous."

Oh, _man_, she is exhausted. But there's no way she's passing this offer up. She knows it won't make the whole 'staying professional' thing so easy, but Savannah's heart has always ruled over her head. Unlike Kate, though it doesn't seem like it now.

Which Savvy has _no_ problem with.

Kate stands and grabs her coat. "You joining me or are you gonna sass the murder board until it reveals the name of our killer?"

"Alright, alright," Savvy concedes, standing as well. "That comment was very hurtful, you know that?"

"Oh, please," Kate scoffs as both of them pull on their jackets. "I'm sure you'll survive."

It continues like that; they banter easily, smiling their equator smiles and laughing wholeheartedly. It's beautiful. It's uncomplicated. Even more so than when they were dating. The elevator ride allows near-intimate physical proximity, and through the entire night, they hardly stray from that closeness.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: So, after the reviews I received for the last chapter, I had a whole rant prepared about negativity and how all fanfiction is basically a form of wish fulfillment, but I'm not in the mood. I'm just gonna say this: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. And, yes, critiques can be phrased nicely, so don't pull that bull on me. Don't call me and the Original Ellie hypocrites for reasons that make me think you don't know what that word means; I can appreciate fics where Castle has a significant other, just like I can appreciate and write fics where Kate has a significant other. Make sense? Good. Now, on with the fic!_

* * *

There are plenty of cop bars that she could take Savannah to, but some reason it doesn't feel right. Taking Savannah somewhere she sees her work friends, where her co-workers could all see…

See what? They're just working together. Whatever happened between them ended years ago, and nobody needs to know that it ever happened, nobody can tell – they may be detectives, but they're not that good. Sure, it makes memories dredge themselves from the crevices of her mind, working with Savvy, but it's nothing she can't ignore. It's easy. Kinda.

They wind up somewhere she'd discovered a few months ago, a warm ambience settling in the room, the warm lighting complimenting the softness of Savvy's eyes. Not that she's staring. She's not. Savannah's just very hard to not notice, that's all. Nothing more.

"This is fancy," Savvy remarks when they find a place to sit, draping their coats over the leather couches. "I remember college Beckett was all about finding cheap booze."

She rolls her eyes. "Isn't every student?"

Without thinking, she heads to the bar and orders what she remembers is Savvy's favourite drink – which had almost become her least favourite after a night of partying and vomiting in college, but Savvy had always been a get back up on that horse and ride it kind of girl, so it hadn't been surprising that she had moved past that by simply drinking more the next day.

As soon as she sets the drink in front of Savvy, she realises what she's done.

Savvy gives her a look that she can't quite pinpoint, puzzlement or awe or nostalgia, she's not sure which. Whatever it is, it makes her look away, blushing.

"You remembered my drink."

"Um," she clears her throat, wets her lips, "old habits. We did go to a lot of parties."

Savannah blinks away the look in her eye and glances down at the drink, fingers tracing the glass.

"Thanks, Becks," she says softly. She hears the words Savannah doesn't say. For remembering. She lets them go because she doesn't know if she can face this, whatever this is, quite yet.

"I knew I never should've let you meet Maddie. I hate that nickname."

Savannah laughs, "Oh, the ammunition I have on you, Kate."

Kate blinks, lips parting, and she can feel the heat rushing back to her face again as she remembers her beautiful laugh, such similar words spoken just as softly. Only they were young, she had just lost her mother and Savannah doodled her in the margins of paper; she drew her like she was beautiful and not drowning.

She remembers – "Oh, the ammunition Maddie gave me against you, Becks. You should let me meet more of your high school friends."

She'd scowled at her as they lounged together on her bed in her college dorm, textbooks spread around them, her legs tossed over Savvy's lap casually, trying to play it off as friendly even though she had been hyper-aware of her limbs pressed against Savannah's, the heat of her even through the clothing that separated them as the winter rain threw itself against the windows.

But Savannah had made her feel warm, and safe, and she was kind and beautiful and laughed at her jokes while most other students whispered about her at the back of lectures, girls gave her pitying looks and boys spread rumours about 'dead easy Beckett'.

"No way," she'd said. "I won't hear the end of this for weeks."

"Oh, you'll never hear the end of this, Kate," Savannah snickered, as her beautiful pink lips curled upwards and Beckett had to look away, down at her lap because Savvy had always been so gorgeous, so distracting. "I'm gonna use this against you forever."

Kate had smiled shyly, looked up at her through a blanket of hair. "You plan on being my friend forever, Savvy?"

Savannah had swallowed hard, a yearning in her eyes that Beckett had seen before but simply put down to her own imagination. And then Savannah had softly moved her legs from her lap, shifted until she was leaning above Beckett on her elbows and suddenly she couldn't breathe, couldn't think, her heart rammed itself against her ribs as Savvy had hovered there, lips inches from hers.

"Not just your friend," she'd whispered, and then she'd pressed her lips against Beckett's.

It felt as simple as breathing – light, and gentle, and breath-taking – a contradiction all rolled into one. She had yearned for it for so long that she'd been struck still, focusing on nothing but the soft feel of Savvy's lips against hers.

Savvy pulled away seconds later, cheeks flushed, eyes wide. Gorgeous. Perfect.

"I'm sorry," she said, mistaking Beckett's stillness. "I shouldn't have – "

"Shh. I want this too," Beckett whispered, cupped a hand at the back of Savvy's neck; her fingers weaved through her soft hair and pulled her back down.

It was light and soft and cautious, and then she grew braver, stronger. Soon Savvy's body was wrapped around her own, soft curves and skin that she couldn't help but feel, her hands sneaked under Savvy's top and that little noise she let out was beautiful, and they kept kissing and kissing until everything was silent, even the rain, and all she could hear was Savannah's shallow breath, and everything was wonderful and beautiful and perfect –

"Hey."

Beckett startles, almost spilling her drink but recovering quickly. She feels heat flood her cheeks once again as Savannah chuckles. Jeez. Why is she acting like such a teenager? Sure, it's hard being around Savvy and not remembering, Savvy still does things to her she's too coward to admit to, and Castle –

Castle left.

"Sorry," she blurts out. "Got lost in my mind there."

Savannah watches her carefully, and it feels like she can see right through her, see exactly what she's thinking. She'd always been so smart – could figure out people in the blink of an eye, so quickly it startled her. It's always been something that she's admired about Savvy, a quality about her she love – loved so fiercely.

Yeah. She had loved this woman once.

It had hurt to let her go then – it hurts to think Savvy's going to leave again, when this case is over – but it had been the right thing to do. The darkness had just began to swallow her as she'd found anomalies in her mother's case, her father sank further into drink, and Savannah was too beautiful for her to destroy. So she'd let her go, maturely. She'd wiped Savvy's bitter tears away and assured her she'd find someone she really deserved, Kate wasn't the one. When she'd made it back to her own room she'd found herself unable to breathe for a few minutes, mind aching and eyes swollen, and it hurt to see Savannah around campus afterwards but it was only for a few weeks. Graduation soon came and she celebrated it alone. Joined the academy. Helped her father. Pulled Royce into the darkness instead.

She had let her go, even as she'd loved her.

But she's here now and her maturity has only made her far more graceful, far more beautiful, and earlier she had sat in Castle's chair and spun theory with her like it was normal and right – and it had felt it.

"Yeah, it looks like it. You said this drink was gonna be a break, but I gotta say, it's not living up to expectations."

"A break for you, maybe."

"Why just me? You distracted by me, detective?" Savannah jokes, batting her eyelashes. "You need a break from me? Oh, how people will talk."

Kate laughs, shoving Savvy's shoulder lightly. "Yeah, you wish."

Savvy falters and then bites her lip, looking away. God. She's such an idiot. She shouldn't just say things so lightly, when some deep part of her knows she means them, hopes that Savvy –

No. She doesn't even know if Savvy is single. Hell, she's been back in her life all of a day.

"So," Savvy says, breaking the ice. "What's new in your life?"

Kate smiles, leaning back comfortably. "Well, I'm a detective."

"That's not new, Kate. You always wanted to be a detective."

"Alright, then how'd you end up working for the FBI?"

Savannah ducks her head, smiling wryly. "Long story. But I'm good at reading people, figures that I'd become a profiler."

"Yeah, it does," Kate says. "Though I always thought you'd use that talent to land yourself a rich, frail old man that – "

"Oh, shut up," Savvy laughs, shoving Beckett this time. "I'm not a gold-digger. That'd be a way too boring a life."

"I don't know, the money must have it perks."

"Yeah, well, if you know any millionaires, feel free to introduce me."

Kate waits for the ache of rejection to settle in her heart, but it doesn't. Castle is just a distant memory. A could've been, but wasn't.

And she looks at Savvy, wonderful, beautiful Savvy, who's smiling at her like she didn't break her heart when they were just kids and wanted too much from each other.

She knows what she wants. Who she wants.

But they agreed on no distractions. Maybe Savvy doesn't – She's probably with someone else, a woman as wonderful as her. It shouldn't hurt. She'd let her go. But it does, and she can't help that, and she doesn't think she wants to.

They finish their drinks quickly, warm liquid unfurling through her veins and loosening her limbs. Not drunk. Nowhere near. Just warmer. But soon enough Savvy's gathering her things and pulls her coat on, so she does too, following her out into the summer night. Under the artificial street lights, Kate can see Savannah's half-smile, a flash through her golden hair. She aches to touch her fingers to the corners of those lips, cup her jaw, run her fingers through her hair. But she can't. No distractions.

Stop getting so distracted, Beckett.

"You need a lift?"

"Nah," Savvy says, "I'll get a cab. My hotel's not far from here."

"Well, okay," she agrees, a little disappointed. Driving her would've given them more time together. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She almost chokes on the words, but the phantom burn is gone, it's gone, it's gone. Castle left. Savannah's here.

"Better not turn up hung over to work, Beckett," Savannah teases, hailing a cab.

"Oh, please. I can handle a drink, you, however… Could you walk in a straight line for me, Savvy?"

The cab pulls up to the sidewalk, and Savannah opens the door, tossing "tomorrow, Kate" over her shoulder.

"Wait."

Her heart pounds as Savannah stops, turning to her with one hand on the door. She hears the driver give an impatient huff and her throat closes up, words lost on her tongue. She doesn't remember what it was she wanted to say.

"What's up?"

"Just – "

She doesn't think. She just steps forward and cups Savvy's cheeks and kisses her delicately.

Oh – it's just like she remembers.

Savvy goes still, and it doesn't last more than a second or two, their lips parting from each other's unwillingly. When she steps back, Savannah's eyes are wide, cheeks flushed, like that first time. Her lips tingle.

"Goodnight, Savvy," she murmurs softly, and then turns to walk to her car without looking back.

A smile she can't quell lingers on her lips until her head finally hits the pillow, and she closes her eyes and remembers better times, better days, with Savannah.

* * *

_A/N: Thoughts? And, remember, saying "Kate's acting OOC" and not really explaining why doesn't help anybody._

_- Ellie_

_P.S.: Sorry for all the passive aggressiveness. I hope you enjoyed!_


End file.
